The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has dismissed claims of a looming fuel shortage in the country.
The Communications Manager of NPA, Mohammed Abdul-Kudus has stated that the country has enough quantity of petroleum products in storage to sustain the demand of consumers till the next delivery of fuel happens.
His statement comes at the back of concerns from civil society organizations of an imminent fuel shortage should the cedi continue to fall against the dollar amid a dollar scarcity in the country.
The Institute for Energy Security (IES) has been warning of an imminent shortage of petroleum products across the country.
According to the energy think tank, the free fall of the cedi, which is causing a scarcity of dollars and the erosion of some working capital of the Bulk Oil Distribution Companies is what will trigger the shortage.
But Mr. Abdul-Kudus said “For now there hasn’t been any information available to me about any possible shortage of petroleum products”.
“What I know and the visibility that I have mostly had to do with the available quantity of petroleum products that we have at a particular given point in time and how long it will actually be around to be able to sustain the demand that we will be having as a country.”
“And what I’ve seen as of today, this morning, we face no imminent shortage in the future. What I have is that we have enough in our stock to be able to take us…..before the next supply line is allowed to deliver fuel,” he explained on Joy news on November 2.
Meanwhile, the government says that moves to secure affordable petroleum products for the Ghanaian market are already underway.
According to the Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and the Ministry of Energy will provide further details about fuel importation in the coming days.
Oppong Nkrumah noted that the Energy Ministry had already begun talks with some major sources and sovereigns in the petroleum supply chain.
“In President Kufuor’s time, we did it with Nigeria, Sahara lifting for us, and you could have supply credit lines and a fixed price that you could bank on, and it is a very similar arrangement that has already commenced, and I am expecting that in the coming weeks the NPA, the Energy Ministry will have the opportunity to provide the details,” he said on Joy news on October 31.
The sitting President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has assured Ghanaians that his government was working to address the escalating fuel prices in the country.
Addressing the nation on the state of the Ghanaian economy on October 30, the President indicated that the “government is working to secure reliable and regular sources of affordable petroleum products for the Ghanaian market. If this arrangement becomes successful, coupled with a fairly stable currency, the country could return to its past glory.
Currently, petrol and diesel prices are being sold at an average of ¢18 and ¢23 per litre, from the previous ¢15 and ¢19 per litre respectively.